Torn
by Not Just a Nerd
Summary: When there is killings in the town and attack in the blood banks, she is torn about whom to believe. DAMON/ELENA. Multi-chapter, exploring the battle in Elena's heart.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries. **

**Note: This story is set 1 week after "Founders' day", season 1, but does not follow the events of the series after that. Also, Katherine is not back in town for this story. The rest of season 1 is followed (where necessary).

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**Chapter 1**

It's not like she is someone who is easily confused! Her whole life had become a collection of choices she made, after all. She knew the distinct boundary between right and wrong, good and evil; she knew just what she wanted to do, which side she wanted to take, whom she wanted to help, and whom she wanted to save. But when it came to the Salvatore brothers, she was always torn. She didn't want to think of herself as the thick blatant line dividing them; she liked to think that she was the common thread keeping them together.

And now they had managed to tear her inside out again, but in a completely different way. Because this time, she had to chose between the two of them- she had to choose whom she could believe and whom she could trust, and so far, that turned out to be the toughest thing she ever had to do in her bizarre life.

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It all began on a Tuesday evening. She was sitting happily in her room, surfing the channels in her TV to find something worth watching, while texting Bonnie about school and homework and normal teenage stuff. She should have known normal wouldn't last much long.

When she came across the news channel, the first thing she saw was the all too familiar river of dark red color. _Blood. _She had been into all kinds of situations with all kinds of vampires, but this one sent a shiver through her spine. Because this time, a blood bank was robbed and people were killed so ruthlessly, it had tinted the whole place red.

She _really, really, really _hoped it wasn't him this time, but that was the first name that echoed in her ears when she saw the brutality.

She grabbed her phone and quickly dialed his number. "Stefan? Where are you?"

"I was with Alaric, just trying to get some extra credit in History." He paused, frowning in worry. "Is everything alright?"

She rubbed her neck with her hand in frustration. "It's Damon… I think he's been on a killing spree again. I'll go talk to him. See you at your house?"

He let out a sigh, tired of this happening again and again, and tired of hearing her sound so worried. "Sure. See ya. Love you."

She wanted to say she loved him too, but her lips froze when her eyes flickered on the screen and she saw more and more of human blood. _Stefan's not like that. _She told herself, but she couldn't bring herself to say his words back. She hung up quietly and got dressed.

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When she was running across the hallway to climb down the stairs, she paused when she saw that the light in Jeremy's room was still turned on, even though the door was locked. She bit her lip in worry. Was he awake? Was he watching TV? Did he watch the vampire-news? She shuddered again when the images flashed in her mind, and shook her head as if to keep them away. She knew it would affect him badly, especially after his complicated relationships with Vicki and Anne.

"Jeremy?" she asked softly, knocking on his door twice. She waited, but no reply came. Her heart broke when she imagined that he was still mad at her. Wouldn't he ever forgive her?

Looking at her watch and seeing it was getting late, she sighed, climbing down the stairs and sneaking out of the apartment. She could hear sounds in the kitchen and knew John Gilbert was still up. She was so glad that she could slip out unnoticed.

Her gladness doubled when she saw that Stefan was standing outside her door, waiting for her, and a smile formed on her lips.

He smiled back at her, and pulled her into a comforting hug. "Everything's okay."

Looking at the kitchen light through the window and at the light at Jeremy's room, she knew everything was as far away from okay as possible.

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Even when she reached the house, he was sitting in the living room, drinking from a blood bag. It made her blood boil and the vein in her forehead pop out. Sometimes she felt like she could just chop Damon into the tiniest possible pieces. How could he be so inhumane, so insensitive, so…. intolerable!

"Hello brother", Damon fake-smiled when he saw them, "Hello Elena. Oo, you look mad. Trouble in Paradise?" he smirked up at her, happy to think that they were fighting.

She shot him a glare and turned on the TV, giving him his answer in the form of a screen full of shots of blood.

He turned his head to look at her, "And what made you think I did this?"

"Because you and Stefan are the only vampire in town right now, and that is something Stefan would _never _do and you can do without even batting an eyelid." She shot back, her glare turning harder and harder with every minute she saw the blood bag in his hands. Couldn't he throw the damn thing away, at least when she was around?

It hurt him to hear the conviction in her voice and the hatred shining in her eyes. The least he expected from her was that she would let him speak; she would ask him if he did this, considering she was his only friend and he believed he had done enough to earn her trust. But clearly, he was guilty until proven innocent.

"Why did you do this Damon?" she asked, her voice broken in frustration. She tried so hard to bring him out of this dark life; she tried so hard to change him into a good person. It hurt her so much to see that she failed. And it scared her to even think about what Bonnie would do when she heard about his doings.

He looked at her with hurt in his eyes. "What do _you _think?"

"You do not need to take revenge for what John did to you!" she scolded, maintaining eye contact with him so that he couldn't lie to her. There was always hope, and she wasn't giving in so easily, not after going through so much. "Let it go, Damon. It's all in the past now. I know what he did wasn't right, but we can all live together in peace, and-"

"-I did not do it!" he finally snapped, cutting her off. The way he looked straight into her eyes and didn't flicker an inch when he said this had her torn again. Because now, she actually believed him, and she believed Stefan, which left her nowhere to go and nothing to conclude.

She sat up, looking from Damon to Stefan, studying their expression. "Then who did this?"

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**A/N: hi guys! How are you all doing? I hope you liked reading this fic. Should I continue or just drop it? Please review! Thank you :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2

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The worst feeling in life is not knowing what the hell is going on and what to decide about it. She hated feeling that way, but that was where she was standing. She had absolutely no idea who was behind the bloody incident. Stefan, she believed him with her heart, her life, her everything. She knew he was too human to do something this ruthless. Then again, she wondered if his blood lust was acting up and making him an insane beast again. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't keep Stefan out of her suspect list, and she hated it.

Damon, he was just the type to do this kind of thing, especially after John Gilbert and company tried to kill him and killed all the others. But he told her he didn't do it, and that made her believe him. Something told her he wouldn't, couldn't lie to her. Damon wasn't the type to give a damn about what feeling thought or wanted, so when he told her he wanted to change for the better and make this town his home again, she believed him.

And that left her nowhere. That left her clueless and completely torn.

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He wondered why it hurt so much when she accused him. He deserved it, he did do pretty nasty things in the future, some things that terrified him in his deepest, darkest dreams, and that's saying something. He knew she wasn't exactly certain about who did this, she didn't tell the founders or bring in the police. She just came down to talk to him. But the simple fact that she suspected him hurt, and he hated not knowing why.

He wondered why he was staring at the picture of Katherine; he hadn't done that in recent days. He couldn't help but wonder whether Katherine trusted him completely. Would she have accused him too, like Elena did?

He wondered if Isobel was right and he did have feelings for Elena. But then, he looked at Katherine, and he _knew _he would never be able to love anyone else in all eternity. And despite having the same face, Elena was _nothing _like Katherine.

So if he didn't love her, why did this stupid thing hurt him so much?

"Oh, hell." He muttered, taking a chug of his scotch, and drowning his emotions in it. He had better things to do than figure out fucking emotions. If Elena thought it was him, there was no doubt that John Gilbert wasn't far behind. Heck, he was probably one step ahead, already making preparations to kill him. He wanted to just run to his house, take off his ring and kill him like he killed the undead from the tomb. But the fact that he was Elena's father further complicated things. He had turned her mother into a vampire, and now he couldn't kill her father and hurt her even more. So that left him only one choice- he had to find out who was behind this before anything happened to him, and fast too, because if it wasn't him and if it wasn't Stefan, then was Elena safe?

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"We need to talk."

He wasn't too surprised to see Stefan waiting for him in the living room early in the morning. But he pretended not to hear him, and went down to the kitchen.

"Damon." Stefan was in front of him within a flash on an eye. "We need to talk."

He rolled his eyes, leaned back against the wall, crossed his arms over his chest. "You want to talk to me? Are you sure you're not under compulsion from someone?"

Stefan ignored his retort, and began speaking. "Drop the act, I know it was you."

He shrugged. "Care to tell me _what_ I did?"

Stefan shot him a glare. "You really want me to believe it wasn't you?"

He furrowed his eyebrows and puckered his bottom lip out, like he was concentrating and thinking deeply. "No."

"Damon." Stefan let out a long sigh. "Please, just tell me if it was you. I need to know that Elena is safe."

And then his eyes finally moved to Stefan and he finally turned serious. "I have been thinking about that too. We need to find out who this freak is."

Stefan looked like he was trying to decide whether he should trust Damon and involve him in this. Damon could stab him in the back within a second, but then again this vampire could be anyone, and he might need help. Finally, he let out a sigh, giving in. "Fine, where do we start? Do you have a plan yet?"

Damon clicked his tongue, patting Stefan on the back. He looked into his brother's eyes, shooting him a dirty smirk. "You forgot an important detail, dear brother." He moved back, leaning on the wall again. "I work alone."

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Running into Elena wasn't his intention, but whatever. At least it was better than running into John Gilbert.

"What are you doing here?" Elena shouted, when she saw Damon in the middle of John's room.

"What are _you _doing here?" Damon countered in a reprimanding voice mimicking hers. "This is your uncle's room; you are not supposed to be here without his permission."

She ran her hands through her hair and sighed, sitting down on a chair. She wanted to give him a hand, but he told Stefan he wanted to work alone, and reprimanding him would take more time than they had in their hands. "So you're looking for that device too?"

"Just how stupid do you think Johnny Bastard is?" he asked in disbelief, still searching through his belongings. "You really think he'd keep that device out in the open where anyone can take it? He might as well just walk home and give it to me then."

She rolled her eyes, biting on her lip. He did have a point, and she did think about it when she decided that she would still give the room a try, but then what was he looking for?

"His personal journal." He filled in, catching on to her thoughts. "Something that I can use against him to blackmail him. I need to make sure he doesn't cross my paths."

"And you think he keeps those out in the open?" she asked, mimicking his incredulous tone.

"There's no harm in trying." He replied, rolling his eyes, "That is kind of why you are here, duh."

She sighed, shaking her head, and opening her mouth to speak, but she Damon suddenly froze.

"What?" she asked, getting up.

"Oh crap! I hear footsteps. He's coming." He tried to walk away, but she clutched his arm and pulled him bring. He shot her a look that said he thought she was crazy. She ignored it and dragged him to her room.

"We need to talk." She explained, once Damon sat down on the bed and she was sure John was in his room.

"Funny. Stefan said that same thing to me this morning." He laughed, placing his legs on the bed, without kicking off his shoes.

She slapped his legs, pulling them down. "Look, I'm sorry I suspected you. I shouldn't have."

He smirked at her. "Are you going to make it up to me?"

"Damon." She warned in a dangerously low tone. He rolled his eyes and shrugged. She began speaking again. "I know it wasn't you. We need to find out who this was. And we have better chances of doing that if we all work together."

He rolled his eyes again and got up from the bed. "I'm not a team player, especially when my brother's in that team."

"I will be there too." she pointed out, sighing in her mind when she pictured all the times the two brothers would argue and fight and she would have to break them apart.

He paused a while to think. He didn't have anything against working with Elena. He could even work with Stefan if absolutely necessary. But working with _Elena and Stefan_…. "Still no." he declared, walking out of the room.

When he reached the door, she took in a deep breath. Finally, she would have to retort to her last option. "You know, it can be Katherine too."

He stopped dead in his tracks, his hand on the doorknob suddenly feeling too cold. Katherine? Could it really be her? And if it _was _her, what was she after. What did she want? Did he want to see her again?

Turning around, he looked Elena in the eyes. "What's the plan?"

She smiled in relief when she got him on-board. At the same time, she couldn't understand why a part of her burned at the knowledge that he would do it for Katherine, but not her. After all, she wasn't trying to be his replacement for Katherine, or something.

And she wondered if he was torn as well, torn between the two women he could never have.

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**A/N: thank you for the amazing reviews on the first chapter! I am so glad you like this fanfic and it's working out. I'm new to this fandom, and I'm giving this my best. I'm here to learn. So all your reviews, feedbacks, criticisms and suggestions are welcome :) **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

They were back at the Salvatore house soon enough. Elena immediately began telling Stefan how nothing was there at her uncle's room, and how hopeless things were. Stefan tried to comfort her by giving her a hug. Damon chose to sit down on the couch, grab his glass of scotch, and watch the sugar-coated romance that seemed to be straight out of a nineteenth century novel. Something burnt in him to see Elena with Stefan, like it always did, but when did he not succeed in converting his anger to sarcasm? "You guys make me feel like I'm back in 1860s. You might as well dress like that and start speaking in old English. I'd say it would make you look funny brother, but you already are funny."

Stefan pulled back from Elena to face Damon's mocking smile, and to ask him to _please _leave them alone for a while. But Elena placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Stefan, Damon agreed to help us find the vampire."

Stefan laughed, turned around and cupped her cheeks, looking into her eyes. "Elena, we don't need his help."

"Exactly", Damon whistled, thrusting his glass towards them in a toast. "You'd not find anything anyway. Here's to your losing."

Elena placed her hands on her hips and glared at him, even as her lips parted in a sigh of half-defeat. "Damon, you promised you'd put aside your differences for this."

Damon held his hands up in protest. "Hey, I said I won't kick his sorry ass. I didn't say anything about us getting along."

Elena sighed again, this time looking back at forth between Stefan and Damon. "We need a plan."

"The plan is to wait", Damon said quickly, "and watch. See what happens next, which place he attacks. We don't really have much of a clue now, Elena. We can't do a thing."

Elena narrowed her eyebrows at him suspiciously, Stefan's expression mirroring hers. "You have something on your mind, don't you?"

His lips tugged up in that menacing yet charming half-smile that had captivated her from day one. "Do I?"

"Damon", she warned in a low tone, almost close to a soft growl, "Spill".

"Sure", he rolled his eyes, shaking his glass in his hand so that the liquid spilled from it. "There! Happy now?"

Elena threw a cushion at him, missing him just because of his super-reflex. Why was he being so childish? Did he really get _that _drunk? "Stop playing games, Damon! You know, the only thing this is doing is making you look guilty!"

Stefan huffed. "I always knew it was him."

And as Damon looked from the distrustful and almost scornful face of his brother to the pleading and resolute face of Elena, his expressions softened, and some of his anger faded away. "Okay, I'll tell you, but you are never going to agree with it."

Stefan tried to open his mouth in protest, but Elena stopped his with just a glance. Another glance at Damon asked him to continue.

Damon smirked, leaning against the wall of the room and letting out an exaggerated sigh of self-content. "We need to set a trap to lure him out."

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Back at home after an hour, her head was pounding. If she was going to be living with Stefan for all eternity, then she was probably going to be torn between the brothers for eternity too. And being in between them in an argument….. It was horrifying.

As soon as Damon laid out his plan, Stefan was furious, rejecting it immediately and calling Damon reckless and insane. Damon shot back by calling Stefan a coward and a fool. The argument escalated, shifting from one topic to another, and before it got to a level where they would draw out some sorts of medieval swords and fight it out, she scolded them both and broke them off. It took up all her energy to use her verbal commands to keep the brothers off each other. It was amazing to think that she had so much of power over two vampires with powers of mind manipulation and physical strengths. But at the same time, it was exhausting. If she was away from even a minute, the brothers would look at each other like they were trying to cut off each others' throat with their gaze.

Today though she had managed to keep the argument _relatively_ peaceful. And while she was absolutely against Damon's plans at first and Damon was adamant about carrying it out even if he had to do it all alone, in the end, she had somehow given in. Damon's plan seemed well thought of, fool-proof, and… And she trusted them. Both of them. She wasn't torn about that.

She rubbed her forehead as she walked up to her room. She noticed that Jeremy's door was closed, and the light was on. She tried knocking again. "Jeremy, please, talk to me." Her voice came out soft and pained. She hadn't realized that she was feeling this anxious, this upset... this _vulnerable._ She waited for a few minutes for a response, but none came.

Tears of frustration finally welled up in her eyes. Why did he still have to be angry with her? Why did everything in her life have to be so complicated?

She ran up to her room and slammed her door behind her, letting her tears flow. Everything was coming to her all at once as she closed her eyes. Her mother and father's death, her real mother Isobel, her friends, Aunt Judith, all the lies she told them, all the secrets she kept, all the tug of war of emotions and all the battles in her heart. The images finally stopped when Stefan and Damon's face flashed in her mind.

Stefan. And Damon. That was what it all came down to. That was where she was ultimately torn. Maybe for all eternity?

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**A/N: Since the response dropped and I saw that no one is interested, I decided to end this story. This is my last try for this fic. This is probably where I'll drop it if no one's interested. Comments and criticism are both welcome :) **


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